EFFECTIVE STRESS LOOSELY COUPLED ANALYSIS OF SAND LIQUEFACTION BASED ON STRAIN ENERGY

Nonlinear site response analysis gives a more detailed description of soil behavior than the linear elastic or equivalent linear methods, but application of nonlinear codes in practice has been limited because of its greater number of parameters. In addition, there are some diculties in calibration and adjustment of parameters in nonlinear codes. There are two main approaches for studying the response of soil deposits subjected to earthquake loading, including total stress and eective stress methods. The major deciency of the total stress method is that it is unable to take into account the progressive stiness degradation caused by pore pressure buidup in soil. Only the eective stress method can model the gradual loss of soil strength and stiness due to the build-up of pore water pressure. In this study, a loosely coupled nonlinear model is presented to predict the undrained behavior of sand subjected to cyclic loading. A modied Kondner - Zelasko (MKZ) model, which is coupled with a pore water pressure generation model based on strain energy, is used for eective stress analysis. There are a couple of methods for the eective stress analysis and modeling of liquefaction, but these methods often require many parameters, and their determination requires greater time and cost. The numerical method presented in this paper is simple and needs a few and determinable parameters. It also provides accurate and acceptable predictions in triaxial condition. Although the proposed model is unable to account for the cyclic mobility and uctuation of pore water pressure during cyclic loading, it accurately predicts peak points of pore pressure history during cyclic loading. Modeling of cyclic undrained triaxial tests conducted on Toyoura and Frazer River sands conrms that the proposed approach predicts the onset of liquefaction very well, and it can be used in nonlinear site response analysis to evaluate liquefaction occurrence.